traficar Imperfect Conjugation
traficar — to traffic
The imperfect of traficar is regular: traficaba, traficabas, traficaba, traficábamos, traficabais, traficaban.
traficar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this to describe ongoing trafficking habits in the past or background situations (e.g., 'They were trafficking while the police watched').
Notes on traficar in the Imperfect
Traficar is a regular -ar verb in the imperfect.
Example Sentences
Antes, ellos traficaban con pieles de animales.
In the past, they used to traffic in animal skins.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Yo no sabía que él traficaba con armas.
I didn't know that he was trafficking weapons.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros traficábamos con sal en aquella época.
We used to trade/traffic in salt in those days.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: traficaba (for nosotros)
Correct: traficábamos
Why: The nosotros form of -ar verbs in the imperfect always ends in -ábamos and requires an accent.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: trafico
The present tense of traficar is completely regular: trafico, traficas, trafica, traficamos, traficáis, trafican.
Preterite
yo: trafiqué
The preterite of traficar is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes to 'trafiqué'.
Future
yo: traficaré
The future tense of traficar is regular: traficaré, traficarás, traficará, traficaremos, traficaréis, traficarán.
Conditional
yo: traficaría
The conditional of traficar is regular: traficaría, traficarías, traficaría, traficaríamos, traficaríais, traficarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: trafique
The present subjunctive of traficar requires a spelling change from 'c' to 'qu' in all forms: trafique, trafiques, trafique, trafiquemos, trafiquéis, trafiquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: traficara
The imperfect subjunctive of traficar is regular based on the third-person plural preterite: traficara, traficaras, traficara, traficáramos, traficarais, traficaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: trafica
The imperative of traficar uses the 'qu' spelling change for formal commands (trafique, trafiquen).
Negative Imperative
yo: no trafiques
The negative imperative of traficar always uses the 'qu' spelling change: no trafiques, no trafique, no trafiquemos, no trafiquéis, no trafiquen.